So, I was thinking about this, and thought I'd show you all, if you like.
This is Elmina Castle, on the coast of Ghana. These pictures are from when I was there in 2008.
Elmina Castle was a slave castle, Portuguese, and later, Dutch.
The tour guide explained what went on, and where, in vivid detail. I will not be repeating it.
I wish I had a better picture of that. Those are wreaths, lain by the villagers, for the slaves who suffered and died.
You wouldn't think a well would have stories. That one does. Not good ones.
As does that courtyard.
After the castle was abandoned, bats took up residence in the tunnel room. The villagers say they are the reborn spirits of the slaves, at peace.
That marble plaque was a gift from the Dutch.
Walking there, having the events described, was harrowing. It changed how I view the atrocities both against my ancestors, and by them.
But please, don't let that discourage you from visiting. Ghanaian coasts and rainforests are beyond description,
the culture is beautiful,
and the lobster is crazy cheap in-season. If you want a fun, cheap vacation (after the airfare), where your money goes into a peaceful but poor nation, I can't recommend it more.
It is. Chocolate is one of their big exports, with mahogany and gold. One of the computer labs I worked in had big, solid mahogany chairs, with built-in desks. Another had cheap plastic patio chairs. They explained to us how the plastic chairs were more expensive, and considered more "refined."
Napoleon III had aluminum silverware. Supply and demand - when "mahogany" is "that tree that grows everywhere" and "patio chairs" are "those crazy-expensive thing we have to get via container ship, which doesn't come very often" you start to see the valuation of patio chairs.